Police due at Meredith murder trial

Police and forensic officers are expected to give evidence in the trial of two former lovers accused of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

Amanda Knox, 21, from Seattle and her Italian former lover Raffaele Sollecito, 24, will return to court in Perugia, central Italy, for the next two-day hearing.

Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found dead in her bedroom on November 2 2007 in the house in Perugia she shared with Knox and others on her year abroad. Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body was partially covered by a duvet.

Knox and Sollecito are accused of murdering her after she refused to participate in an extreme sex game.

Another flatmate, Filomena Romanelli, told the court earlier this month that the friendship between Leeds University student Miss Kercher and University of Washington student Knox had cooled before the murder.

Michele Battistelli, a police officer who was sent to the cottage in via della Pergola, said it looked as if a break-in had been faked.

But the defence lawyers for the two suspects suggested the crime scene could have been contaminated as witnesses said Mr Battistelli entered Miss Kercher's bedroom when the murder came to light. Mr Battistelli denied having done so.

Knox and Sollecito, who have been behind bars for about 15 months, deny any wrongdoing.

A third accused, Rudy Hermann Guede, 21, has already been found guilty of Miss Kercher's murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.